Day 23 - Can you do it?

Friday, January 31, 2014

As I was researching what "Motivation" means, I found the following & changed some to fit me & you can do the same. This will be posted in my room for me to see every day. I may have to do it in several different places so I can always see it.

Sometimes, regardless of the fact that you know you should workout, you just somehow can’t convince yourself to. In fact, some of us have pretty much become a pro at convincing ourselves otherwise. We are able to justify exactly why we don’t have to work out and why it’s ok for us to eat that entire bag of M&Ms, chips, ice cream — until the next morning when we regret that decision. Here are 10 ways to motivate yourself to stay on your fit plan.

1. Psych Yourself Up! Pretend you’re a boxer, a marathon runner, a professional athlete, be a fast running gazelle — it sounds corny, but it works. Get yourself in that mindset, be the boxer, get yourself pumped up, channel Rocky if you want. See it, feel it, see the environment you would be in. The point is to get your head in the game and out of your “I don’t feel like working out” head.

2. No-More Piggy Bank: Every time I REALLY don’t want to work out, but do anyway, or every time I SO BADLY want a brownie but make a cup of tea instead, I will put a $1 in my No-More Piggy, also called a “Fit Bank.” Once it adds up a bit, I get to spend it anyway I want! Then when I’m strutting around with my new purchase, I’ll be able to think “my workouts and fit mindset bought this for me…”

3. Photo at your Heaviest: If you have an old pic at your heaviest, place it where you will remind yourself to get fit. So, if food is your issue: put it in the kitchen — on your fridge, in your pantry, in your freezer, on your counter — wherever you are going to see it before eating foods that you know you don’t need to eat. If your issue is exercise, put that pic on your closet door to remind you to grab your sneakers, put it next to your alarm clock so that when you go to hit “snooze” you see it and decide to get up and exercise instead.

4. Photo at your Thinnest: Same idea, but reversed. Yes, this is a serious glamour shot, a picture of you flexing your muscles or looking sexy in a bathing suit. If you don’t have one then find a picture of what you want to look like, (be realistic here) make it something you can attain. Why? Because some people are driven by the positive, and others are driven by the negative. What type are you?

5. Accountability Chart: Create a chart, writing down your weekly fit plan, tape it to your refrigerator and every time you work out, check it off! Spark People have great charts & things you can print off or just make up your own. Just do it!

6. Tester Jeans: If you are on the verge of eating that or not working out when you know you need to, try on a pair of tester jeans. They can be your scale alternative when it comes to gauging my body size. For me it’s less how much I weigh and more about how I feel and how big/small I am. I know that the scale stresses me out and I obsess over the number, so my goal is to only weigh once a week, the same each week. If I feel like my testers a little tight, I’m not going to even hesitate — I WILL put that cookie down or I WILL put on my sneakers and exercise!

7. Skinny Jeans in the Kitchen: Literally hang your skinny jeans in your kitchen or pantry so that every time you walk in to “see what’s new in the fridge” or at least a picture of them. Sometimes we do some emotional eating in hopes of making ourselves feel better (which will ultimately make yourself feel worse) you see those skinny jeans hanging there and realize that, while those 10 seconds of taste bud bliss as you down that bag of chips will be heavenly — if you avoid that daily bag for a month, you will be slipping, as opposed to squeezing, into your skinny jeans. And in the end, nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

8. Post-Its in the Pantry: Find yourself opening the refrigerator door and eyeballing everything (as if you don’t already know what it’s stocked with), perusing the pantry, and riffling through the freezer, even when you’re still full from dinner? I do. Waaaaaay too often. I am great at afternoon self-convincing that enjoying a few (or a heaping handful) of M&Ms is “okay” and that, no, I won’t regret it in the morning. Instead, I WILL place Post-It notes with little reminders that I shouldn’t eat that cookie, alternatives to eating that cookie, and, worst case — the result of eating that cookie: weight gain.

9. Strip! If you’re having a hard time motivating yourself, strip down to your eco skivvies and face yourself in the mirror, really looking at yourself, all sides! Most of us avoid really looking in the mirror because we don’t want to admit those pounds we have gained. It’s not about looking for flaws; it’s about looking at where you stand right now and being honest about it. What do I want my body to look like, what do I need to change & how can I accomplish this? Remember you are unique, you are not like anyone else, so don’t try to look like someone else. God made you special & he gave you the body you have, however, you have choose to not take care of it, it’s no one’s fault but yours!

10. Say It Out Loud! Yes, if you are about to mindlessly snack, take it out of your mind and make the announcement: “I am now eating this entire bowl of leftover pasta because I’m bored, not hungry, even though I know it will go right to my butt.” If not working out is your issue. Say “I am not going to work out right now because I would prefer be lazy and not address the fact that I need to get healthy. I am making the decision to prolong and even worsen my health and make my weight loss journey take even longer.” Chances are your statement will make you think better of it.